Sangria, Tinto de Verano, Beers…Spain is a country where almost everyone enjoy drinking alcoholic beverages. It seems very tough for the rest to find something that doesn´t have alcohol, plus there are people who have to drive and can not drink…That´s why we have made a list of the top 10 Spanish drinks without alcohol. There are not many other variations, so hope you enjoy these ones:
1) Coffee (Spanish-style)
The most ordered non-alcoholic drink in Spain is a coffee… Spaniards have a coffee in almost every single meal. They always start their day drinking at least one, some people may have another one at mid-day, and a big majority would normally drink a third coffee after lunch.
Although coffees are very popular all over Spain, they don´t drink the same types as we do, forget about cappuccinos and lattes unless you go to Starbucks or other international company. In Spain you will need a masterclass to learn how to order coffee because they prepare it in a million ways.
The list is huge, but here are some of the types: Café con leche (coffee with milk), Americano (Strong black coffee), café solo (Strong coffee shot), Cortado (strong espresso shot with milk) or bombón (espresso with condensed milk).
2) Horchata
Do not misunderstand the Mexican horchata with the Spanish one because they are completely different. The Mexican horchata has rice as its main ingredient, while the Spanish version uses tiger nut, also called chufa in Spanish.
The horchata is one of the most typical non-alcholic Spanish drinks during the summer, and no matter if you like alcohol beverages or you don´t, what we can guarantee you is that you won´t resist yourself to drink an horchata. People love it ones they try it.
In Spain, being more specific in the Valencian community is very common to have a glass of horchata with fartons and use the drink as a dip.
3) Aquarius
Probably one of the most famous non-alcoholic drinks in Spain is the Aquarius. In case you don´t know about it, Aquarius is a soda drink (From the Coca-Cola company) that has its origins in the Olympic Games of 1992 in Barcelona.
Since that year, this beverage has become more and more popular every day and although its not as common as Coca-Cola, Fanta or other soda drinks, you will find it in most of the restaurants in Spain.
There are two main Aquarius flavors which are lemon and orange. Many people order this drink because it contains less gas.
4) Hot chocolate
We cannot say that hot chocolate has its origins in Spain because is a very famous drink all over the world, but what we can tell you is that Spanish people have it very often during Christmas season.
Also, the version of Spanish hot chocolate is very different, the way they make it´s thicker and it almost looks like a cream. To make this easy Spanish non-alcoholic drink recipe some of the ingredientes you will need to use dark chocolate, milk, sugar, and cornstarch.
Hot chocolate is not only used as a drink, but also as a dip for the famous Spanish churros. Having a typical cup of chocolate with churros during national festive days is a must in the country.
5) Granizado
It´s the number one drink during summer in Spain (specially for children). Granizado is a Spanish fruit drink (non-alcoholic) that is made out of crushed ice and generally the juice of a fruit. It´s very fresh and that´s basically the reason why it becomes so popular during the summer months.
If you can´t still imagine what granizado is like, just think of a slushie, because it´s very similar. Maybe a little bit more natural.
Now, if you want to order a granizado in Spain, you must know that there are different flavors. Lemon, orange and strawberry granizados are the ones you will find at most chiringuitos (beach bars), but in special occasions you may see the coke and watermelon versions.
6) Mosto
For wine lovers that cannot drink alcohol, or people who just don´t drink alcohol beverages but would like to try something similar to the Spanish wines, we advise you to try the mosto.
Mosto is a free-alcohol Spanish drink made out of grape wine, but in this case, they don´t ferment it. It´s basically something like a grape juice. Actually, the term of “Mosto” refers to any type of grape juice, not to a specific one.
This Spanish non-alcoholic beverage can be found in two varieties: The red version and the white one. Some people to give it a classier style, they prepare it with an olive and a slice of orange or lemon. Although adults are the ones who normally order it, kids can have it too.
7) La Casera
Probably the less popular Spanish non-alcoholic drink is “La Casera” and not because people don´t order it…They do! But it´s main goal is not being a soda drink, just an addition for wines to reduce the alcohol flavor.
Don´t misunderstand us here, you can have it as a drink if you want to. We have tried it and it doesn´t taste so bad. It´s very similar to 7-Up or Sprite but of course, it´s way less sugary (Which in some ways it´s good as it contains less calories).
The one thing you should know about “La Casera” is that it´s served in almost every single restaurant of Spain.
Enjoy all the alcohol-free drinks in Spain!
The beverages we have mention are the ones we could consider as “Typical Spanish”, but other than those, there are many international and famous non-alcoholic drinks that are very common in Spain.
Coke, Fanta, non-alcoholic beers, Orange juices, Nestea…All these drinks are known all over the world and you can also find them in Spain.
Hope this article was useful! If you have any other authentic Spanish non-alcoholic drink suggestions, we would love to learn about it! And if there is anything you would like to ask, go ahead and do it in the comment section below!